Life: It's that time again!
Kelly: Unfortunately.
Leien: Thanks to blackfalcon and Anonymous for reviewing! Here's another chapter!
3: Ash's Four On Four
Ash ended up choosing the door in the middle. He pushed it open and walked through. A long hall awaited him.
"I can't wait for the next battle!" Ash cheered to himself. He heard his voice echo down the hall.
Pikachu sat happily on Ash's shoulder. "Pika pi!" it added cheerfully.
"C'mon, Pikachu," Ash said as he started to run down the hall. "Our next victory awaits us! We can't keep our victim-I mean opponent, waiting!"
They made short work of the long hallway. Ash reached the double doors at the end and pushed them open, finding himself staring into the next stadium. A referee with short brown hair and blue eyes was fiddling with the AutoCenter. Standing next to her was a very familiar girl with thick aqua-colored pigtails and brown eyes.
"Duplica!" Ash called, starting over.
Duplica turned when she heard her named being called, and she smiled when she saw Ash. "Hi, Ash!" she said cheerfully. The card around her neck read #12. She had her Ditto in her arms.
Ash came up to her, and Pikachu and Ditto jumped off their respective trainers to catch up with each other. "I didn't expect to see you in this competition, Duplica," Ash said. "I thought you were going to catch and raise weird kinds of Ditto?"
"Well, sure," Duplica said. "But when I heard about this competition I just had to enter! It's the perfect competition for Ditto and me!"
"So, I guess we're each other's opponents, then," Ash said.
"You are," the referee said, turning around, "but we can't start the match until the other two arrive."
"Other two?" Ash and Duplica questioned.
The referee nodded. "Yup. This battle is four on four. We have to wait for the other two-"
Just then the door on the far left opened, and in walked a tall boy with black hair and dark eyes. He wore a blue shirt and pants underneath a blue trenchcoat. He looked all business. One eyebrow raised when he saw that two trainers were already there. "Maybe I'm in the wrong room...?"
"Oh, no, this is the right room," the referee told him with a smile. She waved him over and checked his and Ash's cards. She consulted her e-pad. "#2, Karn Vickman, #12, Duplica, and #61, Ash Ketchum. All right, all we have to do is wait for the last trainer to arrive and we can start!"
Karn turned and eyed Ash and Duplica with a small smile. He seemed to be eyeing their Pokémon. Ash spied the five miniaturized Pokéballs clipped to his belt. "Ash and Duplica, I'd guess. Pleased to meet you. As you may have guessed, I'm Karn Vickman. I've seen you before on TV, Ash, but I'm afraid I've never seen you, Duplica."
Suddenly the door on the far right burst open, and a girl with very curly brown hair and large green eyes stumbled through. She looked up, embarrassed. "Uh...the door was a little heavy," she admitted sheepishly. She had on a purple T-shirt and black capris, and a silver necklace dangling over her card. A loose Pokéball belt bounced happily around her waist as she joined the other three. Her card read #31.
The referee looked relieved. "Good, you're here!" she said. She checked her e-pad. "#31, Amunet, right? Good. As you can see, this stadium outline is a little different from the normal one. For one, the battling area is a square, and there are four trainer boxes instead of two. That's because this is a four-on-four battle. Let me better explain.
"This battle is more like a free-for-all. You will all use your chosen Pokémon in a battle. You can and will attack any other Pokémon you see. The battle will end when two Pokémon are declared unable to battle. The last two Pokémon standing will win, and they and their trainers will advance to the next round in Trainer Trails. Understood?" The four trainers nodded. "Good. Everyone pick a box and get ready!"
The four trainers separated and went to the boxes of their choice.
The referee stood on the corner between Ash and Karn and raised two blue flags. "Let the four on four match...begin!"
"Let's go, Pikachu!" Ash yelled. Pikachu jumped into the field.
"Go, Ditto!" Duplica yelled. Ditto jumped from her shoulder and got into position.
Without looking, Karn grabbed his chosen Pokéball and sent it flying. "Go, Magmar!" he yelled.
Amunet whipped out a Love Ball and tossed it. "Go, Ninetales!" she shouted.
The two new arrivals appeared in a flash of light. The four Pokémon faced each other in a battle stance, each one awaiting orders from their trainers. The four trainers stood watching one another for a moment, each unsure who should make the first move and attack the other three.
"I guess I'll be making the first move, then," Karn said suddenly. "Magmar, Ember attack!"
Magmar opened its mouth and spewed scorching fire at the three remaining Pokémon.
"Dodge it, Pikachu!" Ash yelled.
"Ditto, transform into a Pikachu and dodge!" Duplica shouted.
"Dodge, Ninetales!" Amunet cried.
The three respective Pokémon jumped out of the way.
"All right, then, Pikachu," Ash said, "Thunderbolt on Magmar!"
Pikachu charged up and sent a wave of electricity Magmar's way. Magmar jumped to safety just in time.
"Ditto!" Duplica yelled. "Use Quick Attack on Ninetales!"
"Pika!" Ditto said as Pikachu as it jumped into an attack.
"Ninetales, Ember!" Amunet ordered.
Ninetales opened its mouth and shot a stream of fire at Ditto, knocking it back.
"Ditto!" Duplica yelled. "Change to a Ninetales and use Flamethrower!"
Ditto transformed into a Ninetales and spewed fire at both the real Ninetales and Magmar. Both jumped out of the way at their trainers' command.
"Magmar!" Karn yelled. "Show them your Fire Spin!"
Magmar nodded once and let loose a fiery tornado that spun across the field aimed at all other opponents. Before anyone could react, Pikachu and both Ninetales were hit by the powerful attack.
This Karn guy's good, Ash thought. I'm gonna have to change my strategy if I simply don't wanna lose. "Get outta there, Pikachu!" Ash yelled.
"Ninetales, you gotta try to escape!" Amunet was yelling.
Neither Ash, nor Duplica, nor Amunet knew how their Pokémon were faring inside the cyclone of fire. It twisted around in the center of the field, scorching the dirt beneath it. Any cries their Pokémon might have been making were drowned out by the roar of the fiery tornado. Karn's Magmar stood waiting a distance away. Karn had his arms crossed, a satisfactory smirk on his face.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as loudly as he could. "Aim a Thunderbolt at Magmar!"
There was what seemed like no response for a few seconds. Then three streaks of lightning blasted through the wall of the fiery cyclone and zapped towards Magmar. The fire Pokémon was hit directly by the electricity.
"Escape!" Ash, Duplica, and Amunet all yelled.
Pikachu was the first to get out. It jumped over the top and hit the ground rolling, before it came to its feet. Ditto, which had turned back into a Pikachu, followed suit. Ninetales, which didn't have the advantage of being able to use a Pikachu's agility, managed to push through a weak spot in the wall of the tornado. It looked pretty weak, and soon fell on its side.
"Ninetales is unable to battle!" the referee shouted, raising a flag. "The next Pokémon down decides the match!"
Ash, Karn, and Duplica all looked towards their Pokémon as Amunet returned hers to its Ball. Magmar, of course, had plenty of strength to go on. Pikachu was pretty all right, though some of its energy was gone, and Ditto was only a little worse off than Pikachu.
"So, which one of you is ready to lose next?" Karn asked.
"We'll just see who does the losing, Karn!" Ash said.
"Yeah! Let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is!" Duplica added.
The referee raised both flags. "Continue the match!"
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt on Magmar!" Ash commanded.
Pikachu immediately charged up and sent a shower of electricity Magmar's way. Magmar, at Karn's command, dodged it easily.
"Now, Ditto, use Pikachu's Thunderbolt!" Duplica yelled. Ditto as Pikachu fired a new stream of electricity at Magmar. This one came too quickly to be dodged, and it hit Magmar. It knocked the Pokémon back a few feet.
"Nice shot, Ditto!" Duplica said. "Now, use a Thunderbolt on Pikachu!"
Ditto as Pikachu turned and sent a wave of electricity at Pikachu.
"Pikachu, dodge it with a Quick Attack!" Ash yelled. Pikachu jumped away, and the electric attack aimed it at harmlessly hit dirt, sending up a dirt cloud. "Now use Iron Tail on Ditto!"
Pikachu jumped into the air. Its tail started to glow. Using its own momentum, Pikachu whirled at the last second and hit Ditto with its tail, sending the attacked Pokémon flying.
"All right, Magmar, Fire Blast!" Karn ordered.
Magmar spewed a star-shaped burst of fire Ditto's way. Since it was still recovering from Pikachu's Iron Tail, it wasn't able to get out of the way and was hit dead-on. Ditto slammed into the wall and slid to the ground, down for the count.
The referee raised both flags. "Ditto is unable to battle!" she announced. "That means Ash Ketchum and Karn Vickman will move on to the next round!"
Ash pumped a fist. "All right!" he cheered as Pikachu jumped into his arms. "We made it to the next round, Pikachu!"
"Nice job, Ditto," Duplica said as she went over and picked Ditto up. "You did great."
"Is Ditto gonna be okay?" Ash asked, walking over.
Duplica nodded. "Sure. A little rest ought to do it."
The referee waved the four trainers over to the AutoCenter to get their Pokémon healed. "Since Ash and Karn made it to the next round," she said, "the two of you can each pick one of the two doors on that wall. Duplica and Amunet, once your Pokémon are healed, I'll take you back out to the lobby." She smiled at Ash and Karn. "It seems your trails have been smooth so far," she said. "But don't expect it to stay that way."
Karn raised an eyebrow. "What's that mean?" Ash asked.
The referee just gave them a sunny smile.
Life: Sounds like a cliffhanger, doesn't it? Well, tune in next time to see Misty's four-on-four battle!
